Relevant Synonyms Dromidiopsis spinirostris Pastore, 1976 Sternodromia spinirostris Manning and Holthuis, 1981 Misidentification -  drawing : Tuvia Kurz

SHORT DESCRIPTION Carapace rounded, convex, densely setose. Front narrow, trispinose, median tooth smallest. Supra-orbital tooth prominent. Antero-lateral margin with four small teeth, second tooth minute, obtuse. Adult females with sternal grooves converging anteriorly at the base of median tubercle. color : dark brown, sometimes tinged with violet, chela fingertips whitish. common size : CL 6.4 cm (max.). DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS Differs from Dromia personata in having small teeth on antero-lateral margin, and a prominent supra-orbital tooth. BIOLOGY / ECOLOGY Poorly known. habitat : sand, mud bottoms, 8-108 m (Atlantic).

1st MEDITERRANEAN RECORD Italy, Ionian Sea, 1976 [1969-1972]. DISTRIBUTION Worldwide : Tropical and subtropical East Atlantic, from Mauritania to Angola, and Cape Verde Isl. Mediterranean : a single record, as Dromidiopsis spinirostris, from Italy, Ionian Sea, (Pastore, 1976 [1969-1972]). ESTABLISHMENT SUCCESS Known from single record. speculated reasons for success : - MODE OF INTRODUCTION Unknown. IMPORTANCE TO HUMANS None.

KEY REFERENCES Forest, J., 1974. Les Dromies de l'Atlantique Oriental: description de Sternodromia gen. nov. et de deux espèces nouvelles du genre Dromia Weber (Crustacea Decapoda Dromiidae). Annales de l'Institut Océanographique, n.s. 50(1): 71-123. Manning R.B. and L.B. Holthuis, 1981. West African brachyuran crabs (Crustacea: Decapoda). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology, 306: 1-379. McLay C.L., 1993. Crustacea Decapoda: the sponge crabs (Dromiidae) of New Caledonia and the Philippines with a review of the genera. In: A. Crosnier (ed.), Résultats des campagnes MUSORSTOM, Vol. 10, Mémoires du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, 156: 111-251.   Pastore M., 1976. Decapoda Crustacea in the Gulf of Taranto and the Gulf of Catania with a discussion of a new species of Dromidae (Decapoda Brachyura) in the Mediterranean Sea. Thalassia Jugoslavica, 8(1)[1972]: 105-117. FEEDBACK / COMMENTS TO AUTHORS

Last update of the species sheet: November 2002 ©ciesm 2002